Tag: raptors
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Coopers or Sharp-shinned? You be the judge…
After my missed photographs several weeks ago, I have been carrying my camera with me when we go out for walks. Today, my efforts were rewarded. Just a block away from our earlier sighting, my husband spotted this Cooper’s/Sharp-shinned hawk coming in to land as we approached the tree. This neighborhood has had a pair…
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Coopers Hawks are back in town
We took the dogs on our normal walk today, and we saw this … If I had brought my camera along, as I had been recently, I could have gotten a shot of a second, smaller Coopers in the tree above. Moral of the story? Never leave home without a telephoto lens in springtime.
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Female Red-tailed Hawk
We’ve had a huge red-tailed hawk hanging around the neighborhood this week. I assume it is a female, because female raptors are bigger than males. And she was big. And I knew she was a red-tailed hawk (Red-Tailed Hawk), even without seeing her tail, because 1) she was big, 2) she had a stocky body…
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Prepping for Take-off
The day after I last posted, I noticed new behaviors with the Bald Eagle chicks — they began stretching and flapping their wings… …and they began feeding themselves — just a little at first, but it’s a milestone. As with all new skills, wing-flapping takes a lot of practice, and the willingness to fail. They…
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Raptor Migration in Full Swing
The annual Raptor (aka Birds of Prey — eagles, hawks, falcons, owls and vultures) migration is in full swing. The birds of prey are migrating north to their summer nesting grounds. The raptors fly up the hog back for several reasons. First, it is an easy marker for them to follow — a constant ribbon…
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It must be spring…
… the turkey vultures are back! As large birds, turkey vultures depend on thermals to work themselves up to as high as 10,000 feet to search for carrion (dead animals). Once aloft, they fly with their wingtips splayed out finger-like for better flight control while soaring. Because they need warm air to lift them, you’ll…
Amy Law, Science Geek 